Coheed and Cambria 469

Coheed and Cambria is an American rock band from Nyack, NY, whose music is often labeled as progressive rock or new prog. The band’s first seven albums (as well as their ninth and tenth) correspond with the nonlinear story of The Amory Wars, an intergalactic science-fiction epic created by frontman Claudio Sanchez. A simplified version of the story can be found here.

An early variant of the band formed in 1995 under the name Beautiful Loser, and was quickly renamed to the more well-known former band name Shabutie. After a few changes to the lineup and three EPs along the way, Coheed and Cambria formed, consisting of Sanchez (vocals, guitar), Travis Stever (guitar, backing vocals), Michael Todd (bass, backing vocals) and Josh Eppard (drums, backing vocals).

The group released their debut studio album, The Second Stage Turbine Blade, in March of 2002 after signing with Equal Vision Records. Their follow-up, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, hit stores October of the following year and was RIAA-certified gold, with its leading single “A Favor House Atlantic.” Switching to Columbia Records, Coheed released the first volume of Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV (From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness) in September of 2005. The album was also certified gold and boasted the band’s arguably most well-known song, “Welcome Home.”

November of 2006 was a dark time for the band, as it brought the departure of Eppard and Todd for personal, drug-related issues. After five months of playing with temporary fill-ins, Todd rejoined and the band recruited drummer Chris Pennie, formerly of The Dillinger Escape Plan. The second volume of Good Apollo (No World For Tomorrow) was released in October of 2007, but due to contractual reasons surrounding Pennie, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins played drums on the album. One member shy of the “original” lineup, the band played a small string of four-night concert events in U.S. and U.K.— termed Neverender—chronologically corresponding to their four existing albums in late 2008. The band’s fifth album, Year of the Black Rainbow, was released in April of 2010, acting as a prequel to the storyline of their previous albums. While touring in the summer of 2011, Todd was arrested on charges of armed robbery, with Pennie leaving later that year, allowing Eppard to reclaim his role as the drummer.

A year after losing Todd, the band picked up former AM to PM bassist Zach Cooper. Between October of 2012 and February of 2013, the band released their sixth and seventh albums as a double album titled The Afterman in two installments —Ascension and Descension respectively—under Hundred Handed/Everything Evil Records. After another label change to 300 Entertainment, the group’s eighth studio album, The Color Before the Sun, would mark the band’s first non-conceptual release, instead reflecting on recent changes in Sanchez’s life. It peaked at #10 on the Billboard 200 and was their first album to see a #1 spot on a Billboard chart, under Top US Rock Albums.

In May of 2018, the band’s social media accounts began teasing new music with images and quotes seemingly related to The Amory Wars. Releasing “The Dark Sentencer” a few weeks later, Coheed confirmed their album Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures—along with the subsequent albums in the series—will be revisiting the Amory Wars saga with new characters and stories, also marking the band’s return to conceptual album writing. Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures released on October 5.

Following extensive touring, Coheed took a breather, which was extended by the COVID-19 pandemic, but they eventually returned to the Amory Wars in June of 2022 with Vaxis – Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind. The album is the second of five installments in the Vaxis saga that follows a hero couple on the run.